There are some alien species within the Star Wars universe that anyone can recognize. You could show a picture of a Twi’lek, Wookiee, or Rodian to just about any random person on the street and they will be able to tell you that have seen them before, even if they can’t tell you their name. Yet there exists, in The Old Republic, several species that even some of more dedicated fans may have little to no prior knowledge of. Today we are going to take a look that the history behind one of those species, the Sith Pureblood. You will never see a Pureblood in the movies, and they don’t show up in very many of the games or stories in the expanded universe. Despite this, they are, in my opinion anyway, one of the most interesting species in TOR as their history is tied to the very beginnings of the Sith faction.

The first thing you have to understand when talking about the Sith Pureblood is that its name is somewhat misleading. There is a difference between the Sith Pureblood and the actual Sith species. None of the original Sith species are believed to exist during the time of TOR. Those beings known as Sith Purebloods are actually hybrids of the original species and the first Dark Jedi to encounter them. They are known as Purebloods because they still retain enough of their Sith heritage in their DNA that if manifests itself in their appearance. The first meeting of the Dark Jedi and the Sith can be considered one of the most important events in the Star Wars universe, and laid the groundwork for what became the largest and most powerful of all the various groups that harnessed the power of the Dark Side. To understand how the Purebloods fit into Sith society, we must look at the very beginnings of what we know today as the Sith Empire.

Around 7,000 years before “A New Hope” takes place, a conflict occurred that became known as both the “Second Great Schism” and the “Hundred Year Darkness.” This event was the second known war that occurred within the Jedi Order and what lead to the eventual creation of the Sith Empire. At this time, those Jedi who harnessed the Dark Side were simply known as Dark Jedi. They had not yet encountered the red skinned Sith species native to Korriban. The Dark Jedi had rebelled against their masters and the Jedi Order and caused a conflict that lasted a century. When the war was over the Dark Jedi found themselves defeated and at the mercy of the Jedi Order. Yet the Jedi do not believe in executing prisoners, so instead they stripped them of their weapons and armor, placed them on weaponless ships, and exiled them from the known galaxy. These Dark Jedi drifted through space until they discovered the planet known as Korriban, home world of the Sith.

Though they were primitive in terms of technology, the Sith species was already proficient in the use of the Dark Side, a fact that intrigued the newly arrived Dark Jedi. The fact that the entire species was force sensitive and had been using the Dark Side for generations meant they had access to powers that even the Dark Jedi had never even heard of. Through a string of conflicts, and with their advanced technology at their disposal, the Dark Jedi eventually subjugated the Sith and incorporated the two species’ cultures together. They eventually used the Sith name to describe anyone within their Dark Side cult, and what we now know as the Sith Empire was born.

Over time, they used Dark Side alchemy to allow the two species to mate, resulting in what we know as the Sith Purebloods. At first this hybrid of the groups resulted in a species that was far closer to the original Sith in appearance, but over time further interbreeding resulted in the much more human appearance we see in The Old Republic. They are easily recognizable within the Sith with their red skin and face tendrils, though how pronounced these traits are will vary from individual to individual. They are also recognized as having some of the highest force potential within the Sith Empire. Because of this they are regarded quite highly and often hold positions of power and authority.

Although they may not exist in many forms of Star Wars media, the Sith Purebloods were an integral part of the early Sith Order. If the Dark Jedi and Sith had not met on Korriban all those years ago, who knows how the history of the galaxy would have played out? You can count on seeing a lot of people playing as the Sith Purebloods once the game releases, and hopefully the game will reveal even more about the history of this extremely interesting, and extremely influential species

Masterful, Joshrooms! Fantastic write-up and a HUGE help to the Sith Pureblood I have planned (slated for RP as a “racist against all non Sith.”) I want to thank you, sir, for providing answers to most of my pre-launch homework 😉